The Halfling: A Fairly Expected Journey
by HiFry
Summary: A curious halfling leaves her home to begin a new life away from the all too well-known fields of which she grew up, but runs into someone most unexpected along the way.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is not related to The Hobbit or LotR, don't read it thinking that. BUT it does contain halflings and elves and the like. Freya is my DnD character and this was supposed to just be a Bio but it got a little out of hand. Enjoy. **

CHAPTER 1?

_Aster, Ironweed, Petunia, Goldenrod, Trefoil, and Clover—That's the list today._ Gather these flowers and bring them back home to be arranged and sold at the market square tomorrow. It's a long list, but tomorrow is the Cusp Festival after all; a big day for the Prairiewind's nursery indeed. The festival is a celebration of the crossing from springtime to summer. Freya, the only one of her siblings still living at home always does the herb gathering now while her mother and father tend to the arrangement of the bouquets and maintenance of the shop wagon. She loves venturing out into the pastures, but not much ever changes about them. Only the turn of the seasons ever make any difference about this place at all—But now, _it's time for a real change of scenery._

Ten days have passed since the Cusp Festival and Freya is restless to begin her new life. She wrote a letter to her parents and as the sun disappeared behind the gently rolling hills she took her leave.

It was quiet, and the cobblestone path was cold on her bare feet as she looked out over the blue fields that churned like an ocean in the midnight wind. It was peaceful—like she'd hoped it would be. The solitude was new, but not unwelcome. Weaponless, and shoeless, and nearly penniless, Freya made haste from her home in the west and traveled eastward.

Not but 3 hours after the sun had risen she found herself on the edge of a small village, and with the small amount of money she had, purchased provisions for the next few days and a room for the night.

At twilight Freya returned to the inn from her exploring and retired for the night. However, not but 4 hours later a chaos woke her and she ran to the window to find madness had erupted in the streets. A band of dark riders had invaded the village and overtaken the townspeople. Well, all but one. A lone standing elf battled the riders. One against five, it was an impossible fight. Freya watched from her window, not knowing how to act in such a situation. She had never seen a battle such as this before. The closest she'd come was the friendly competition in the town games where she'd grown up. But nothing from those times ever came close to this. If she interfered now, she would surely be cut down as quickly as she'd entered and with much little effort she imagined.

With all of these unmade decisions running amuck in her head Freya's eyes were spinning in their sockets and when she looked down again it seemed that in the time she took trying to make up her mind on what move to make, the lone elf had defeated all five of the dark riders with hardly anything but a scratch to show for it!—That was it! She _had_ to go down there.

Bounding heavy-footed down the thick wooden stairs of the inn, Freya tripped at the rug and tumbled stupidly out of the doorway only to roll straight to the feet of the tall elf man.

"What's this?" He said looking down at his boots, "A Halfling in her night dress?"

A what?—oh right. She _was_ in her night-clothes wasn't she. "I—I SAW YOU FIGHTING!"

"I believe half the town did, love."

_What a snark! He sure doesn't TALK like an elf. "_Well, um, I just—" what was it she wanted? She hadn't exactly thought that part through. "I wanted to ask please, if I might be so honored as to be your apprentice?"

"Hah! Apprentice? What do I look like, an old blacksmithe?"

"What? I—no, I just; you are so skilled with your weapons, I thought, maybe I could learn from you."

"That's not how it works, my dear. I'm an assassin. I track, I hunt, I kill and then I claim my reward. _Alone_."

"BUT I—"

"_NO!_" and with that he stormed off into the night, never to be seen by Freya again; probably.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2?

Freya woke to the light of the newly risen sun peaking through her window curtains, and exposing every dust particle_ in_ _existence_. Everything that happened last night felt more like a lucid dream than anything, but she felt a sting in her ankle from where she'd tripped just hours earlier reminding her how real it was.

One foot at a time Freya made her way out of the stiff bed and over to her belongings, and out the door of the inn she went as her long day began. She had an awful lot of walking to do and much farther to go in the grand scheme of things. Freya strolled through some of the small shops and gathered some last minute materials for the road. But she also bought a stylish pair of large brown boots for her journey to come.

The sensation of not feeling the ground on her feet as she walked was exceedingly uncomfortable, but with the rocky terrain ahead in the midlands she knew they would come in handy and it's better to break them in now than later.

Nearing the large gate of the village Freya noticed a figure up ahead walking in the same direction she was headed. He was draped in a long cloak and there was no telling from where she was standing who it could have been, but she figured it didn't really matter all that much one way or another and she took one very large step out of the village and back into the unknown world.

Several hours had passed and it was now nearly mid-day. She noticed the hooded traveler had already stopped up ahead for their meal and she thought about catching up to eat with them, but maybe it was best she stay a ways behind for now.

Freya picked a small tree just off the road and made a spot for herself to sit and eat, occasionally glancing over her left shoulder to look at the unknown traveler. But this time when she looked up, he was gone.

_What? How did I not notice? Where did he— _Freya turned her head to the right only to meet eye-level with a long, steady, blade. Her eyes traveled the length of it up to the owner's face. Their eyes met and out rang a harmonious:

_"YOU!"_

"What business have you following me for so long, Halfling? I gave you my answer in town already." The elf declared curtly.

"_Following you?!_ You've got this wrong master elf. I would be traveling this way whether you had been or not." Retorted Freya, "Though it seems fate has brought us together once more, and I do not take her hints lightly."

"You think _fate_ has to do with this? This is simple coincidence, nothing more."

"Think what you want, but I know there is a reason for our meeting." Freya protested finitely, arms crossed.

The elf gathered his things and started off again toward the east; Freya trailed along behind him with increasing difficulty as he quickened his pace.

"Well you might as well tell me your name since we're traveling together now," she implored, somewhat under her breath, afraid she might come face to face with his blade once more.

"We are _not_ traveling together." He didn't even bother looking at her as he spoke.

"Well obviously we are, or we would not be walking in such close proximity to each other."

"_We_ are walking so close because _you _are following me; and _I _should skewer you for it."

"In any case, I'm Freya. Freya Prairiewind. I've come here from the rolling plains of the west, and I recently left home to discover the great realm like my brothers before me."

"That's great," he mumbled, too obviously annoyed.

"And you?" She inquired.

"I have nothing to say about myself that will be of any consequence to you. Nosy little imp."

"WHA—_Imp_!" she stared open-mouthed at him, never so insulted in her _entire_ life!

Bickering back and forth well into the dark hours the two had traveled quite a way away from the town they had left earlier that morning.

The elf found a spot a good distance from the road and set up a small camp. Freya followed close behind as she had all through the day, and made her uninvited self right at home beside him. They each ate a small bit of food from their own packs by a fire insignificant enough it may as well have not been there at all and then fell asleep under a canopy of leaves and stars.

Suddenly there was clanging. Metal on metal, grunts and groans and yelps. Freya could hear it, and half asleep it didn't make much sense, but then she woke up fully and sat bolt upright, but it didn't do much good as she was immediately grabbed from behind and held with a dagger pressed hard into her throat.

_Bandits?_

Straining to see in the dark surroundings Freya looked for the elf man. He had been caught off guard in his sleep and obtained a gash on his upper arm, but with his seemingly unmatched skill level, easily over-powered the bandit attacking him and had him unconscious and pinned to the ground with his foot when he noticed Freya; _the hostage_.

"_Damn it,—_" he spat.

The bandit cackled and with a raspy voice demanded the elf, "put down his weapon."

He did. And the bandit in possession of Freya walked with her over to their rucksacks and bent down with his knife still pressed to her and started rummaging through the bags.

Meanwhile, the elf slowly and cautiously moved toward them. He made eye contact with Freya and mouthed, '_don't move.'_ She blinked hard once to indicate her understanding.

The bandit came across some curious possessions in the elf's bag, strange looking trinkets and talismans. He grabbed as many as he could, stuffing a bag of coins in his pocket and then WHAM. He was knocked back from off his heels by a swift blow to his chin. Freya fell back along with him, but quickly retrieved the dagger from his hand and fumbled up holding it out toward the man on the ground and side-stepping toward the elf.

"Empty your pockets and leave this place or I will not hesitate to end you," advised the elf calmly, placing his left hand around Freya, resting it on her shoulder; his other arm outstretched with a blade different from the sword he had thrown onto the ground moments before.

He pointed the sword over a bit in the direction of the unconscious bandit who had unfortunately woken the sleeping dragon. "Take him with you."

The bandit hobbled around for a while, shuffling toward the unconscious man while throwing artifacts out of his pockets. He picked up his limp partner and scurried off into the forest.

Freya's arms went down like they had just turned to lead and she fell to her knees. Quiet and wide-eyed she sat staring at the dagger in her hands. The elf looked over and crouched down next to her. He pointed at the knife and muttered, "Keep that. Now you have a weapon."

Freya turned to look at him, but for the first time in her life, no words came to her. She was able only to look upon him and wonder.

"Ery," he continued. "My name is Ery."

She looked back down at the dagger; and turning it over in her hands she whispered, "so it's Ery."


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3?

Ery sat atop a small hill, surrounded by tall grass that swayed gently in the early morning breeze. The sun was nearly above the horizon, and in the distance he could just barely make out the shape of the small Halfling, still asleep by the, long since extinguished, campfire. He stood and brushed off the grass and dirt that had collected on his trousers and walked off in the direction opposite of the camp.

It had been 9 days since the bandits attacked them. They'd made it farther eastward and a little bit south, but only passed one town along the way and supplies were running thin.

Freya blinked rapidly and squinted, straining her eyes as the bright sunlight told her the day was starting whether she wanted it or not.

Rubbing her eyes and slapping her cheeks she sat up and looked around, realizing Ery had left her alone to sleep. She didn't like when he left without saying anything. They weren't friends (according to him), but the company sure was nice. She'd thought the solitude would be a nice change from her usual life back home, but the truth was, being alone wasn't much fun at all.

The sun reached it's mid-day spot in the sky and Freya groped around in her rucksack, searching for the last bit of saved up food she had left. She took out a tough hunk of bread and placed it to her lips, but as she did there was a nagging feeling she should turn around. When she did, she noticed Ery walking leisurely back toward her.

"It's about time!" She howled, "Where have you been? I've been waiting for you since sunrise!"

"You have no need to concern yourself with my whereabouts!" Ery called back nonchalantly. "And not that it's any business of yours, but I was away to gather some food since we are on our last leg! You _could_ stand to be a little more grateful, imp."

Freya's eyes glanced downward at the load Ery was cradling in his arms and with widening eyes let out a piercing wail.

"RABBITS!"

"Is there really a need to be so _LOUD_?" Ery hissed as he passed her, "I'm _right here_ for gods' sake."

"Well it's just, we have been rationing our dried meat and bread for so many days, this is the first worth-while food we've had in over a week!"

"We'd better get to cooking it then; make yourself useful and gather some wood for the fire." Ery said in a commanding, take-charge kind of tone.

"Right away, _Master_." Freya replied sarcastically.

Freya took her dagger and set off toward the forests' edge to gather scraps of lumber.

Once she had a good amount of twigs and branches and a small satchel full of tender she made her way back toward the camp so Ery could start cooking the rabbit meat before dark.

As she reached the edge of the wood she heard a ruckus coming from the direction of the camp. Peeking out behind a large pine she stretched her vision as far as it would go and saw what looked like a gang of soldiers. At least twelve of them, all on horseback, had Ery surrounded. Prodding him with their spears they forced him to circle around in his place to avoid getting stuck too hard.

_I have to do something_, Freya thought. Resting a hand on her hip she felt the dagger beneath her fingers. _Anything._

Setting down the gathered lumber, Freya quietly sneaked out from behind the tree line and passed through the field below, crouching in the shadows of the gently rolling hills.

Once she made it to the hill closest to the commotion Freya was able to understand clearly what the soldiers were saying.

"We've been a-lookin' fer ya fer a long time, traitor," one admitted.

"Mmyea— far too long fer our likin' yew should know," another remarked.

"The captain's had us on yer case fer about 5 months, now," the first one spoke again.

Ery's air of coolness, astoundingly still intact despite the situation he was in, broke through the snickering and muttering of the group around him.

"You power-hungry buffoons will never know freedom when you blindly take orders from men who know nothing of the field which they command." he contended with a scowl, "I only hope my actions opened the eyes of some poor souls; some who, obviously, weren't any of you."

Freya peered out from behind the hill to find some sort of opening she could take. She didn't have much of a plan formulated, but she would figure something out. _Maybe_.

Ery noticed the small movement and recognized the frizzy mess of brown hair to be his tiny companion. Luckily he seemed to be the only one who _did_ notice. He kept an eye fixed on her position while continuing his banter with the soldiers.

She saw him then, and he saw her. They stared for a few seconds, both hoping that maybe just this once, telecommunication might work. It didn't.

One of the soldier's from before made a snarky comment toward Ery; she didn't hear what it was, but she did hear his response: "I would never _RUN_ away from _you_."

_Run? Is that what he wants me to do? That's not an option right now; I can't just leave him when he is surrounded like this. Who knows what these men will do to him!_

Freya unsheathed her dagger and held it ever so slightly outward from her midsection. She'd never used anything like this before. Well, not for anything besides cutting flowers. But she had to now; this was to save someone she cared about, and that's what weapons were for, weren't they? _Protection_?

She moved stealthily out from behind the mound. Ery shook his head side to side, but he could tell she wasn't about to leave now. _It was time to take action_. While one of the men was talking Ery threw his hand under his spear and with a flick of his wrist, forced the polearm up and _WHAP_! A perfect hit, right smack in the middle of his face. Dazed and incapacitated the man fell from his horse and hit the ground with a hard _thud_.

"SEIZE HIM!" exclaimed the man who seemed to be the leader of the troop.

The 11 uncompromised soldiers scrambled about on their horses to secure the target, but to no avail. Ery was fast, and light on his feet. Ducking and dodging the enemy's blows he knocked 7 cavalrymen to the ground by turning the weight of their spears against them.

All was a flurry of chaos and Freya made her way in, standing back to back with Ery.

"LEAVE, YOU FOOL! YOU'LL JUST GET IN MY WAY!" Ery shouted at her.

"I'M NOT GONNA LEAVE WITHOUT YOU!" Freya called back.

They fended off as many men as they could, slowly making their way in opposite directions until Ery was cut down. The troop leader had procured a bow and shaft from a member of the group and sent it shooting fast down at his enemy's leg.

Ery roared in pain, grabbing hold of his bleeding wound.

"ERY!" Freya cried out. She turned and started to run toward him but was caught from behind and hoisted off the ground. She thrashed about trying to free herself from the stranger's grasp; but her struggles were in vain, for she could not break free of the behemoth's firm grip.

The commander fastened a rope around Ery's wrists and ankles and threw him over the saddle of his stallion as he and the uninjured soldiers made their way back to the outpost.

"Let the small one go," the commander barked at the brute still holding a squirming Freya. "We came fer _'im_, and we got 'im; we don't need any extra luggage."

The giant threw Freya to the ground as he straddled his steed and the soldiers rode off, leaving Freya, beaten, alone, and in the dust. She picked herself up and ran after them, crying, until they had passed so far into the horizon they were not even a speck in her vision. Freya fell to her knees and looked down at her hands and arms. They were red, blistered, cut, bruised, and torn, and through all of that she was still not even able to save just her one _friend_.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4?

_The outpost should be just beyond those cliffs_, thought Freya as she made it to the edge of the wood. She'd been traveling through this seemingly never-ending forest for three days in the direction Ery's captors had rode.

She'd used up all the rabbit meat from Ery's hunt and really needed something to eat or she wouldn't be traveling for much longer. So far in her journey this was the longest amount of time she'd been on her own. It was far more difficult than she'd imagined, but now it was time to suck it up and actually _do_ something for once. She needed food and it was time she went and got some.

In her time with Ery, Freya had picked up just a little bit of knowledge on beast tracking and that information combined with her natural stealth made for decent odds; the only problem was, she'd never killed anything in her life…besides bugs.

Since she didn't have any long-range weapons, she figured her best bet was to make a trap. She gathered some twigs and made a small weaved basket and filled it with stones. She had a fair bit of rope in her bag, which she used to hoist the basket over the branch of a tree, keeping the rope held down with a stone.

Freya left some scraps of the rabbit she'd eaten as bait; though it was mostly bone, she hoped the scent would attract _something_. She sat with her back to the trap, behind a wide tree, holding a very long, hooked stick… and she waited.

Somewhere around 40 minutes had passed and Freya was about to call it quits for the day when she heard a rustling in the leaves behind her. Slowly and as quietly as she could, Freya peaked around the tree to see what was there.

_A_ _fox_. A small one, but it was something. It sniffed the remains looking for anything it could scavenge. Freya was distracted by wonder; she'd never seen a real fox before. But the fox's ear twitched and aimed in her direction and she suddenly remembered it was now or never. She had to catch it before it got away. In one fell motion, Freya jerked the long hooked branch and moved the stone from the rope and shut her eyes tight.

A yelp followed the sound of rocks hitting the forest floor. And there was a whimpering sound that flooded her ears and she couldn't help but cry.

She stood and unsheathed her knife, wobbling over to the pile of rocks. She took a knee and moved one stone from the head of the animal. She looked into its dazed eyes and with choked breath whispered, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm _so_ _sorry_."

She hesitated, holding her dagger with both hands above the trapped beast. She squeezed her eyes shut, and brought her arms down fast and steady, exhaling hard when she felt the breath leave the animal.

"Thank you."

She'd helped Ery skin animals before. She never liked it.

She tore off the flesh and fur while her fire crackled. Even in the summer months the nights grew cold and soon she would need to buy a cloak to survive the dark hours, but for now the fire was enough.

She took the meat off the bones, skewered it with a branch, and held it over the fire until it was pretty well cooked. Her meal was tough and stringy but it was better than starving. She took a swig of water from her bota bag and lied down to sleep under the full moon.

_Tomorrow I will save him._

Sounds of the uniform march of soldiers woke Freya at mid-morning. Through the trees and past the overhang she could see a large band of armored men on the road, stepping out to do battle it seemed. Either way, she was in luck. More than half of the men stationed at the outpost were leaving and that gave her a much better chance at rescuing Ery; that is, if he was even still there.

She packed her things and scattered the debris of the exhausted fire, and set off toward the stone walls of the camp as soon as the few hundred soldiers were past her line of sight.

She passed out of the forest and made it to the over hang and started to climb her way down, finding as many rocks and roots to grab as she could.

Once she reached the bottom it was a straight shot to the outpost. There were only two turrets built into the base, with only two guards at each. If she could slip through the open field unnoticed she would be able to crawl through the sewers and make it to the cells where she hoped Ery might be held.

The grass was tall, about as tall as she was. And she made it about halfway when she heard one of the guards yell something. So naturally she made a break for it. Running with surprisingly great speed for a person with such short legs she reached a culvert that went straight under the walls of the fortress.

She crouched down and crawled her way through the tunnels until she heard something from the end of the passages. She followed the voices until she reached a small room that looked like it might have been an armory. Peering up through the grate in the floor, she listened:

"There's been some sort of disturbance up above. The watchmen said they think an animal might have gotten in the sewers. Go take a look around the prison cells and see what you find, then report back to your post."

"_Sir!_"

Freya watched the men leave the room and saw the one who was to go check on the prisoners take a right. So she did the same. Making her way through the tunnels she finally arrived at another dead end and a grate in the floor opening up into the dungeon.

"You ain't seen nothin' scurryin' about 'round 'ere 'ave ya?" the guard grumbled.

The captive was silent, simply staring back at the man as a reply.

"tch, Alrigh'then." He drawled as he turned around and went back to his post in the armory.

Freya looked around, though the thick stone floor blocked most of her view. She saw someone in a cell straight down at the end of the row sitting leaned up against a wall, with his face covered by a large hood.

_That's gotta be him, _she thought.

She looked both ways once more and reached up through the grate, pushing it off from its frame and sliding the metal out of the way.

She flailed her arms about trying to get a good grip on the floor above to pull herself up.

Finally getting situated she was able to hoist her body up through the small opening in the ground.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the slightly brighter environment and she blinked a few times as she stood up.

"_Freya?_" uttered a wonderfully familiar voice.

"Ery!" Freya hollered.

"_Shhhh!_"

"Sorry!..._Ery is that you?_"

"Yes it's me, what are you doing here, you're covered in filth!"

"Oh well I'm sorry you're so disgusted by my appearance after I just risked myself coming to _SAVE_ you!"

"Psh! Save _me_? I had this completely under control!"

"Yeaah it sure appears so. I suppose I can just go then, since you seem like you can handle it from inside that cell."

"Don't patronize me, imp!" Ery warned, though suddenly there was a noise and the two of them became very hushed, very quickly.

"_Get the key_!" Ery whispered

"Where is it?"

"On the wall, behind you. _Hurry_!"

Freya scurried over to the hook with the key ring and grabbed it. She trotted, jingling over to Ery's cell, her hands fumbling about to find the right key.

"Give it to me," he said, "I've seen them use it I know which one it is!"

"Well just tell me which one it is!" she contended.

"They look too much alike, even if I told you, you still wouldn't know which one!"

"Do you take me for a fool? I came all this way, I killed a fox to get here!"

"What?—What does that even have to do with this!?"


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5?

Bewildered at why she mentioned the fox at all Freya responded to Ery in a hushed voice, "It…doesn't have much to do with this I suppose."

Ery barked back with an outstretched arm, "Gods, love—just hand me the _damned_ _keys_!"

Freya shot a wicked look up at Ery, reluctantly surrendering the ring of keys and passing them through the metal bars. Ery promptly picked out the key that would unlock his cell and reached out through the bars of his cage, fingering around the lock until he found they keyhole and freed himself from the iron prison.

There was another sound outside the dungeon—closer this time. The two looked up toward the door at the far end of the corridor and then turned to look at each other.

"Quick, get into the sewers." Ery ordered calmly, grabbing Freya's hand and guiding her back to the open hole in the floor. They jumped in, replacing the grate to its frame and started back toward the exit.

"You're welcome," Freya nagged, turning her head back to look at Ery.

He looked at her quizzically and chuckled

"What, you're not going to thank me?" she scoffed.

"Hardly—Why would I thank you for dragging me through the underbelly of this wretched hold?" Ery pointed out.

"I _could_ have left you locked up! But instead I went through all of this trouble to save you!"

"Well no one asked you to!"

"No one had to!" she retorted, turning her head forward with a sharp flick.

"Oh, come now, love; don't be so soft, I hardly meant it personally." He repented, resting a hand on her arm.

Shrugging it off and quickening her pace Freya kept moving. The sooner they were out of there the better; bickering would only slow them down.

After a silent trek through the tunnels they made it out of the fortress just as the sirens began to sound. With a great amount of stealth the two stalked their way through the tall brush and in to the surrounding forests.

The sun was setting so Freya set up a fire while Ery went to find a source of running water to wash in, as the sewer was not the cleanest route for travel.

Freya nibbled on some of her rations while she wrote a few lines in a journal she'd brought with her from back home.

When Ery came back from his bath, he tossed some of his freshly washed clothes in the direction of the fire to dry—only they missed the ground and fell, dripping, over Freya's head.

She threw out her arms to keep her journal pages from getting wet and yelped, throwing the soaking clothes onto the ground,

"Aghh! What was that for?"

Grinning like an idiot with a hand over his mouth Ery just giggled between broken 'sorry's.

Freya forced her journal close, threw it down atop her sleeping roll and stormed off.

"I'm going to bathe," she breathed.

"Alright, love—I'll keep a close eye on you from here!" Ery called after her, still smiling.

She shot him a dirty look and grumbled under her breath as she walked off.

As he went to search his rucksack for food he noticed the book on her sleeping roll. _She writes in that thing every night. _Ery thought as he inspected it from his spot a few feet away. _What it is she even writes about._

Legs still crossed, he leaned over on his elbow and reached for the journal. He picked it up and thumbed through the pages until he reached today's entry:

June 16,

Today I rescued Ery from a super huge castle thing.

There were guards _everywhere_. It was really hard,

but I did my best for him. He doesn't seem to care

though. And I even killed a fox. Next week is my

Birthday. I'll be 19! I wish I could spend it with

mom and papa.

Until tomorrow,

Freya

_19? I had no idea she was so young._

Ery considered tabbing through the rest to figure out why she even left her home in the first place, but he knew better than most that some things are best left unknown. _But it's her birthday soon, huh?_

When Freya returned Ery was already asleep with the crackling fire still aflame at his feet. She sat for a while, talking a good long look at the stars overhead. They shined bright in the clear summer sky. She tested herself on a few of the constellations for nostalgia's sake and then snuggled up in her sleeping bag to dream her troubles away.

Tomorrow would be a better day.


End file.
